Howdy! I was diagnosed at the end of February when my doctor put me in a cab to the hospital with my blood sugar at 42 mmol/L or 740 mg/dl. I'm on two types of insulin and my sugars have been below 7 mmol/L for the last two weeks. Not sure if I'm type 1 or 2 -- the hospital couldn't figure it out during my two days there. Hopefully I'll find out at my appointment on Thursday.
So, just saying hi and looking around!
Scott
Welcome. Sorry you have to join the club, but this is one of the best places to be supported and to find information if you do have to join us.
Most likely you are type 1 to be presenting with blood sugars that high? Had you been having symptoms for a while, or it happened suddenly?
Define suddenly?
I had a really bad cold in December and some of the docs seem to think that was the start of it. Symptoms started to hit in January but didn't get bad until Feb.
Sounds like type 1, as you had a sudden sickness and then symptoms, type 1 can be very rapid even in adults (Don't let the title of LADA/Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in adults which is basically slower onset type 1 in adults fool you, that doesn't happen to everyone, sometimes it's rapid. I suspect it was rapid for me too) . You should probably get the antibody testing, but based off what you've posted that sounds pretty type 1 to me and not 2 and you should be on insulin asap and testing your blood sugar regularly (like 4-8 times a day) .740 mg/dL being your diagnosis blood sugar is pretty scary .
I have been on insulin for a month now and my sugars are under 7 mmol/L (126 American). I had a bunch of follow-up tests on Wednesday and should get the results on Thursday. Testing four times daily. Humalog and Lantus.
So far so good! I can even look at the needle when I inject now. ☺
Adjusting to the whole idea of having diabetes can be rough. It's not just the physical management but it's emotional and psychological as well. It's good that you've started on both the basal (Lantus) and bolus (Humalog) insulin.
To help refine your blood glucose management, I encourage you to keep and review records. It can be had written or stored on a computer. Sometimes its hard to see patterns until you review several days' records.
You need to become your own expert on dosing insulin, selecting appropriate foods, and getting regular exercise. Doctors can help somewhat but they are a non-factor for the multiple decisions that you must make every day.
I'm a big fan of the "eat to your meter" concept. Let your post meal blood sugar numbers guide you as to what foods help and what foods hurt. Many here adopt a limited carb way of eating. We each have our own daily limit of carbs that when exceeded causes too many out of range numbers. Some people can eat 150 grams of carbs per day or more but many of us eat less than that. Under 100 grams of carbs per day is not that unusual.
Diabetes is a disease marked by carbohydrate intolerance. Find you own personal daily carb threshold and try to stay under it.
Welcome to Tudiabetes. You've found a great resource for living with diabetes.
Sounds like you are doing great, congrats! That is really amazing progress in a month, you should be proud. A new diagnosis is not easy, I wrote my top ten tips for the newly diagnosed that you may find useful. Welcome to TuD!
Someone mentioned you in the chat today as the go-to lady for type 1.5. Depending on how Thursday's appointment goes, you may be hearing from me. :)
The doc thinks I am type 2 but isn’t certain, so she has ordered three antibody tests. Apparently results can take a few months.
I've been researching the antibody tests they've done to help nail down the sort of diabetes I have and came across something saying GAD testing should be done "before insulin injections begin." I had already been on insulin for a month before I did the antibody tests -- is this going to mess with the results? GAD was only one of the tests, but I'm now wondering if it would screw up the others as well.
It should take less than a week for most antibody tests to be performed in metropolitan areas. If you live above the arctic circle then perhaps I can understand some delay. Using insulin should not interfere with the tests. There is a fourth antibody test (Insulin Autoantibodies) which may be elevated by the use of external (sometimes called exogenous) insulin but isn't central to a diagnosis of T1. You should also have been given a c-peptide test which measures remaining insulin production.
No matter what your diagnosis, the important thing is to get proper treatment. Even if you are antibody tests are negative (which happens sometimes even though you are T1) or if you are T2 you may still be insulin deficient. If your pancreas just cannot produce insulin you may still need exogenous insulin. You just need to work closely to make sure you get appropriate treatment. All to many of us have been stereotyped into a T2 diagnosis and been given a pill and told to go lose weight and exercise. For some of us this is just not an appropriate and effective treatment (both T1 and T2).
Thanks, Brian! I was told they would have results in three months, but I guess I will push for a quicker answer.
In case anyone was wondering, I finally got my antibody results – had to get them forwarded to my GP because I don’t see my endo again until July. Turns out I’m type 2 after all. So now I’m working at reducing my insulin intake and coping with metformin side effects.
I’m sorry that you have diabetes. I just want you to know you are not alone. I am on metformin and insulin. And the metformin side effects something many of us deal with us.
By any chance if you are in the Toronto area there is an excellent doctor in Scarborough who believes in turning people into non diabetics and has done it with quite a few. His name is Dr Jason Fung and his lectures are on YouTube. He was one of 40 experts who put on a recent Diabetes Summit. If you are newly diagnosed, it could easily be reversed at this point with the approach Dr Fung suggests. If you want to get worse, then there are ways to do that too, but I don’t recommend them. There are many supplements that can be taken that do great things.
I am very upset that they got rid of the group about Natural Supplements, so I likely will not contribute much to this site in future. With supplements I have reversed two disease states in myself and I am not in favour of anyone making anything worse when there are many ways to improve things. A USA based pharmacist Suzy Cohen has some good books. One is about reversing diabetes by way of the use of supplements. I read two of her books and agree with what she says.
Find a good Naturopathic doctor as well or read a lot like I do. At least read as in Canada it is rare a visit to a Naturopathic doctor can be afforded as it is not under the tax based medical system. That’s why I read. Keep a positive attitude, keep moving and especially try for at least one meeting with Dr Fung even if you have to come from another place as he might hook you up with a colleague in a location where you are. The time to reverse a disease state is at the beginning before it gets worse. Where there is a will, there is a way!!! Dr Fung is a kidney specialist and as he does work with many diabetics there will be some way to see him and it would be covered by OHIP. I feel certain he would be a positive person to see at least once.
The one problem would be if you are not in Ontario. But still try and ask if he has a colleague to refer you to.
I saw Dr. Fung in a recent online summit – probably the same one you’re referring to. His ideas were interesting. I’m in Toronto, so he is local. He’s well spoken and quite compelling.
I’m not really into naturopathy, personally – but I’ve been following Dr. Barnard’s plant-based diet approach to diabetes. I was already vegetarian, so moving to vegan isn’t a huge leap. Cutting fats down hasn’t proven to be too difficult. Good results so far.
I don’t see a naturopath for the reasons I mentioned, about cost, but I read a lot and I have managed to find answers by using supplements. Another very important doctor is Dr Ben Lynch and I have since last September been realizing that I believe I may have the genetic issue that makes translation of the synthetic B9 which is Folic Acid into the human form less than ideal so I am now going to avoid synthetics under every circumstance.
Even though you may be eating vegetables, taking extra chromium will be helpful. I’ve used it since 1986. It is an essential cofactor for insulin attaching at receptor sites so it increases insulin sensitivity. I’m a mile north of Toronto. Have you ever heard of Dr Fred Hui? He is my GP and he treats a number of people with T2 diabetes as he specializes in certain areas like heart disease and lots of diabetics have that as a concern. He has three clinics and two in the Toronto area.
I’ve kinda fallen in Doctor love with my GP through this diabetes process. I just signed on with her a few months before it happened, and she’s been phoning to check in on me rather than just shrugging and assuming my endo will handle everything. And she’s willing to discuss treatment routes and take my opinions into account, and she seems to know her stuff on the diabetes front. My endo on the other hand . . . She’s a prickly one. Bit of a dictator, So I have a feeling I’ll be moving my care back to my GP before the end of the year that my endo said I’d be working with her.
Have you discovered a website called RateMDs.com that is a useful place to see what other patients think of doctors. In that sense it is helpful when choosing a doctor. I’m not suggesting you change doctors, but it is informative to check user reviews just to see what other people are experiencing with someone. It’s good to stick with someone you get along well with as I have had the same endo for 29 years.